Return on Environment Studies

Study evaluating the economic benefits of land conservation and outdoor recreation in Carbon County, Pennsylvania.

The results of this study show that nature is serious business. The goods and services that flow from Dauphin County’s existing open space and natural systems save residents, communities and businesses $939.2 million in avoided costs for natural system services, air pollution removal and revenues from outdoor recreation each year.These benefits accrue to businesses, manufacturing, agriculture, governments and households.

This study calculates the economic value generated by open space in the Lehigh Valley. It finds that open space adds significant value to the regional economy with benefits accruing to businesses, governments and households--some benefits being direct revenue streams to individuals or governments, some representing asset appreciation and some accruing in the form of avoided costs.

Chester County partnered with the major land conservancies active in Chester County, as well as the Chester County Economic Development Council and Chester County Association of Township Officials to produce the Return on Environment report that estimates the economic impact of the County's robust open space preservation initiative.

More than just pretty places, preserved open spaces contribute to our local economies and property values, they help us save on everything from health care to recreation, and they perform valuable ecosystem services that naturally improve the air we breathe and the water we drink. Included in this library item are both the full study and a study summary.

What is the role of trees, fields, and forests in filtering water, cleansing the air, controlling flooding and more? How much is it worth? What are all the other economic benefits of open space in Berks County? This report lays out the numbers in 28 colorful and eye catching pages.

To show how a strategy of land conservation is integral to economic health, this report illustrates that parks and open space increase property tax revenue and yields a better return on investment than development. It reviews the economic benefits of farmland preservation, shows how forest cover decreases the cost of treating drinking water, enumerates the economic value of urban trees, and examines the role of parks and open space in attracting businesses and affluent retirees to a community.

Virginia’s natural resources provide approximately $21.8 billion/year in ecosystem services. Of this, state and federal public lands provide $5.1 billion and the more than 700,000 acres of private land under conservation easement provide $520 million. The benefits are derived from a protection of water quality and supply, pollination of crops, forest products, farm products, disturbance prevention, habitat that supports the marine resource harvest and carbon sequestration.

This study underscores the economic value of clean water in the Laurel Highlands region and illustrates the return on the environment that comes from restoration and conservation projects. Restoring damaged streams, conserving natural habitats, and preserving drinkable and recreationally useful water all provide economic benefit to the region. Incorporating these benefits into policy and funding decisions will help create an environment in which both the economy and the watersheds can thrive.

This provides the results of a study that quantified the annual value of New Jersey’s natural resources and its present value, the amount of money that would need to be invested now to generate an equal level of annual monetary benefits. The total value of New Jersey’s natural capital is about $20 billion per year (present value: $680 billion). It provides services worth between $8.6 and $19.8 billion (present value: $288-660 billion) and goods worth between $2.8 and $9.7 billion (present value: $93-322 billion).